Bacteria without Borders: Communicable Disease Politics in Europe

Communicable disease control might be one of the oldest and most important functions of the modern state, but it receives very little attention today. This article introduces a special issue on the Europeanization of communicable disease control politics in Europe. The Europeanization of communicable disease control is a case of both European integration and communicable disease politics. We first analyze the problems and tensions in communicable disease control as a problem of overlapping interprofessional, interorganizational, intergovernmental, and international tensions. We then present the European Union, a new and understudied actor in communicable disease politics, sketching the theoretical background for Europeanization of the field and introducing the articles in the special issue.